As far as I can tell there are two factors which determine how well a world holds onto an atmosphere. Gravity is certainly one. The other is how much solar energy the world receives.
Mercury has a diameter of 4,878 km’s and a surface gravity of 0.3924, yet it has no real atmosphere.
Titan has a diameter of 5,150 km’s and a surface gravity of 0.1409, yet it has a thicker atmosphere than the Earth. If you were to place it in Mercury’s orbit, it would loose all its atmosphere (And probably a lot of its crust).
Likewise, if you placed Mercury in Titan’s orbit around Saturn, it could hold onto an atmosphere.
Mars has a diameter of 6,787 km’s and a surface gravity of 0.3821 (Almost equal to Mercury’s). It has a thin atmosphere. If you placed Mars in Mercury’s orbit, it would loose that Atmosphere. If you placed it in Titan’s orbit, it could hold onto more atmosphere.
Space/Science » in reply to is there any direct link between
Some. Solar energy also plays a big part.